Meet the Chefs

Chef Erik Foxx-Nettnin of Magnolias at the Mill restaurant has put so much work and research into the menu, of which you’ll find below. “To me, the coolest part of this dinner was the way the menu sort of developed itself. Initially I had done a lot of research and reading which was Michael Twitty’s work. The theme was intended to be the evolution of Virginia barbecue, but that just didn’t feel complete. Each course shows a leap in evolution from very close representations of authentic farm hand cooking and present day interpretations with a lot of the same ingredients. Virginia is such a diverse agricultural state, and it always has been. Our state has everything anybody could want, and we intend to show that in each course.”

We had the pleasure of working with internationally renowned ChefMarcus Repp, via Lansdowne Resort and Spa, at our Root to Table event in August. Though he won’t be back this time, rest assured that his skills will not be vacant from our series for too long! We had a moment to chat food with him, and this is what he had to say about it:

“Food today is not what it used to be. I remember having an emotional connection to the product that was on my plate, through my Grandmother who was a chef and going to the farms to pick up pigs and vegetables. We have to get back to the roots, to the times when we knew where our nourishment grew and who produced it. Having these connections is what makes us Humans and its forging a chain, a relationship from Farm to the Guest’s on our Table.”

We welcome a new chef into the bunch for this historical dinner: Ryan Ross of Lansdowne Resort and Spa! The Resort’s restaurant, Coton & Rye chef, we are excited to see how this unique addition will give a special flair to the harvest menu.

Coton & Rye is a truly unique restaurant experience to be had in Loudoun County, and it meshes so well with our culinary theme this November: history.

Like all of our restaurants and chefs in this collaboration, Coton & Rye’s signature dishes and beverage program are centered around local ingredients. The restaurant even has its own, exclusive brand of whiskey that can be found nowhere else! To make their connection to the local community deeper, the resort has selected a local batch of rye to produce their own private label rye whisky. The rye was grown at Morven Park through the historic estate’s farming co-op program. Trent Teebe, Proprietor of Three Monkeys Farm farmed the rye and provided it to Catoctin Creek, which became Barrel 609.

We welcome sponsor Chef Damien Hinck back, who comes to us from Charles Town Hollywood Casino‘s Final Cut restaurant – a hidden gem. He delivered delicious pork tacos with refried peanuts at our last event, so we are incredibly excited to see how he spices up the menu!

We wouldn’t get far without Hillbrook Inn‘s Steven Ferrell. Chef Steven, alongside chef Erik, has been involved with all of of Root to Table dinners thus far. Like many of the other chefs, Steven loves our area for its rich seasons and flavors that come with them.“I love the visual beauty of the area, I love that we have 4 distinct seasons. I get tired of cooking the same things all the time, new seasons bring about new products and new cravings.”

We hope you’ll join us and the region’s favorite chefs on November 3rd at Magnolias at the Mill! These guys have put a lot of hard work into the menu so far, and with 4 expertly trained chefs, we can guarantee that it’ll be amazing.